


Berlin, Berlin

by IHaveRuinedMyLife



Category: GOT7, JJ Project
Genre: 1990s, Berlin (City), Clubbing, I hope it's not too cliché-ridden, I tried my best, M/M, New Beginnings, Period Typical Attitudes, Period-Typical Racism, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, alcohol sex and cigarettes, beware of longer chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:21:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24043534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IHaveRuinedMyLife/pseuds/IHaveRuinedMyLife
Summary: There was a man sitting on the windowsill. Broad back leaning against the frame, eyes closed, baggy clothes slightly worn-out. Jinyoung’s stomach made a little flip as he let his gaze trail down the perfect profile of the man’s nose, over his chest, slowly moving up and down, his quite prominent Adam’s apple, his defined jaw, the long, black locks curling around his face, his slightly parted lips…The warm afternoon sun outlined all these sharp features that Jinyoung couldn’t help but notice somehow resembled the pretty feline dozing beneath his bent legs.Berlin, 1994It’s been almost 5 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, 4 since East- and West-Germany reunited, leaving the people torn between enjoying their newfound freedom and slowly realizing the hardships crashing down on them, following two estranged countries trying to come together as one again.Park Jinyoung, a soon-to-be historical studies major from South Korea, finds himself drawn to the other side of the world nonetheless. But it’s not just the special history of this city, that forged his decision…
Relationships: Im Jaebum | JB/Park Jinyoung, Kunpimook Bhuwakul | BamBam/Kim Yugyeom, Mark Tuan/Jackson Wang, Park Jinyoung/Mark Tuan
Comments: 14
Kudos: 37





	1. Chapter 1

It was the first Thursday in May, close to midnight but the city was awake.  
“Pass doch auf!” a guy slurred loudly in angry German. Jinyoung turned his head to give him a short glance before deciding that the little run-in with someone that drunk wasn’t something he had to apologize for. So he only readjusted the strap of the heavy duffel bag hanging off his shoulder and pulled it closer to his body so that it wouldn’t hit someone else on the busy, cobbled sidewalk. Yet, while doing so, he accidentally bumped shoulders with another man stepping out of the shadows from one of the doorways to his right.  
“Arschloch.” the latter grumbled, giving Jinyoung a dirty look. That much he could understand. Asshole.  
“Yeah, same to you.” he hissed in Korean as he watched him swaying down the street. It’s not like he would’ve understood anyways. There was no need for trouble on his first night in a foreign city. That was not what he came for.  
He stopped in his tracks for a moment, right underneath one of the orange light cones of the street lamps, and looked ahead.  
Muffled techno music was booming down the street, obviously coming from one of Berlin’s many, infamous night clubs a few doors down from where he was standing. People were hanging around in front of it, sitting on the sidewalk, drinking beer, smoking, chatting… Jinyoung smiled softly into the night, readjusted his bag before he headed further down the narrow road, framed by rundown five story tenements. Most ground-floor shops were shut off with graffiti covered blinds but a convenience store and a shady looking bar on the other side of the street were buzzing. Jinyoung couldn’t stop the smile on his face from getting brighter.  
He finally made it here. Out of the province, ready to start over.  
Across from the club, he then spotted a telephone booth standing on a rather big traffic island along with a tree, a public toilet and another street light. A small group of people had gathered there for a smoke, probably wanting a bit more privacy than there was right in front of the club. Jinyoung took on a faster pace, slipping through some parking cars on the side of the street. Despite the sidewalks being full of people, the streets were close to empty so that he could skip across easily. With a sweeping movement, he hopped up the curb on the other side, hissing when the pain of the shoulder strap reminded him of how long he had been walking around with it already.  
The group of four, two guys and two girls, looked at him, their conversation coming to a full stop. One of the girls, smudged lipstick, blonde hair entangled with her huge hoop earrings, was leaning against the door of the telephone booth while smoking her cigarette.  
“Hey.” Jinyoung said once their eyes met. He walked up to her, aware of the daggers one of the guys was throwing at him from the side. “You’re blocking the door.”  
She raised her eyebrow at him, blowing the smoke right into his face. “Hm?”  
“You’re blocking the door.” Jinyoung repeated in English, lifting his left hand to make a phone call gesture while running his right through his hair, attempting to fix his middle parting. “I want to make a call.”  
The guy staring him down slid from the metal rail he was sitting on and quickly stomped towards him. "Problem, Schlitzauge?" he asked, batting his left hand to the side, holding onto his wrist for a moment before letting go when there was no resistance. Jinyoung just blinked at him, not sure how bad of an insult the last word had been but the way he spat it right into his face didn't sound too good and the guy definitely looked ready to start a fight.  
"Dude, calm down." he said, keeping his voice even and low to avoid any misunderstands "I just asked her to step aside. I need to call someone."  
The guy scoffed, muttering some more German words towards his friends. It was obvious that he didn’t understand anything Jinyoung was saying.  
"Forget it…" he sighed, in Korean this time, while rolling his eyes, about to reach out to gently nudge the girl’s shoulder to get her to move away. But the guy wasn’t having that.  
“Alter, verpiss dich!” he yelled, ready to throw a punch. Jinyoung took a quick step back before the girl blocking the door barged in.  
“Matze… lass mal.” she said in a rather calm voice, putting one hand onto the guy’s shoulder while finally stepping away. Jinyoung watched the scene with interest, not knowing what she said but apparently, it was enough to make the guy take a step back as well. Not without still glaring at Jinyoung though.  
"Dankeschön." the latter hissed one of the three German words he’s learned beforehand, making sure to let the sarcasm drip through his voice before he tore the door open and stepped into the stuffy booth.  
He let out a relieved groan once the heavy bag slid down his shoulder and onto the ground. After 27 hours on planes and airports and an one and a half hour walk, he couldn’t care less about the bag hitting the dirty, gum and beer and whatnot covered floor.  
Even as the door fell shut behind him, the vibrations of the music could still be heard as well as the heated conversation taking place right next to the booth. It was then that it dawned him what all the ruckus was about. A short laughter left his throat almost immediately after the thought crossed his mind. The guy must have thought he was hitting on the girl, the calling-gesture misinterpreted. What an idiot. Still chuckling to himself, Jinyoung reached into the pocket of his denim jacket to grab his wallet. The following glance at the price list for overseas calls then told him he had to cut this one short.  
The number of his grandparents house was a familiar pattern, his fingers remembering the numbers even faster than his brain after he typed the 0082, dialing code for South Korea. It felt weird, calling them in the middle of the night but if he got the math right, he would catch his grandma heating up yesterday's dinner for breakfast while his grandpa was reading the newspaper after they had fed the pigs and the chicken and cleaned the barn. A routine that he was all too familiar with, having done the same for the past two years.  
The dial tone hooted through the receiver for quite a while before he finally heard a rather loud cracking sound, followed by his grandmother’s voice.  
"Hello? Hello, who's there? Can you hear me? Hello?" she nearly screeched through it.  
"Nana, it's me. Jinyoung." he chuckled, running a hand through his hair again while he could easily picture her worried expression, thinking that he wouldn’t be able to hear her through the long distance.  
_"They'll hear you just fine."_ he had told her years ago when they first installed it, test-calling his sisters in the city. His grandparents had been the last people around getting an own telephone. Around 10 years after everyone else in their very rustic area. _"You don't have to scream all the way to Jinhae."_  
"Oh darling! Honey! It's Jinyoungie! Come here, come here!" he then heard her calling, knowing it was directed at his grandfather. "Jinyoungie where are you now?"  
Despite the excitement of his new surroundings, it felt good, listening to her voice, streaked by the heavy dialect of the rural south coast of South Korea which she had never left since she was born.  
"I'm here already. In Berlin. I just arrived around three hours ago." he told her, talking loud and clear so she would catch his words. Her hearing had gotten worse over the past years.  
"Really? It's so impressive how fast you can go to the other side of the world!"  
"Nearly two days isn't fast, Nana." he laughed, mentally cringing again at the memory of an eight hour stay in Moscow. The telephone then demanded more coins. Jinyoung took a deep breath and inserted it. "Anyways… I just called to say that I'm here and that everything's alright." he side-eyed the four people still standing outside of the booth, the angry guy still warily glancing at him from time to time. Jinyoung laughed again, quickly covered his mouth and turned away.  
"That's fantastic, sweetheart. Did you have breakfast already?"  
"Nana!" he exclaimed, now allowing himself to laugh out loud. His grandma really was a cute one. Despite her claiming it otherwise, he knew she couldn’t really fathom the distance between them, let alone the time difference. "It's midnight over here."  
"Oooh right." he heard both of his grandparents chuckling. "Then you should go to bed. Do you have a place to spend the night already?"  
That was a question he hadn't been looking forward to, the laughter immediately dying in his throat.  
Yes, he did have a plan. But it was shaky and definitely not for his grandparents’ ears.  
He bit his lip, humming to drag out his answer as he looked across the street where a couple had just stumbled out of the club, all giggly and handsy with each other, making out right on the sidewalk. They had their hands woven up in each others hair as he pushed her closer towards the outer wall of the club. He removed one hand from her hair then, shoving it underneath her tight top and that's when Jinyoung’s heart dropped - along with a blonde wig and a stuffed bra. His teeth dug deeper into his lower lip, a tingly feeling rushing through his body as he watched the two men making out in public. His fingers tightened around the receiver. "Yes." he then answered shortly, remembering his grandparents were still on the line as the telephone demanded more coins again. "Nana, I think I've got to h-"  
“Shit.” Jinyoung winced as the call got cut off. He would have to call them again soon, he thought as he closed his now already way lighter wallet… and maybe he should change some more money…  
His eyes darted outside again, looking for the couple in front of the club but they were already gone. He let out a long sigh before picking up his bag again and pushed the door of the booth open.  
The angry guy’s eyes were still on him but he ignored it, the whole situation way too stupid to pick on a fight.  
Once he threw his bag over his shoulder, the pain came back immediately, making him grit his teeth for a second before he crossed the street again. His plan for the night was set. And that club would help him with it.  
With a tight grasp onto the shoulder strap, he walked up to the club's entrance which was half-hidden by a rusty metal grid. Torn placards and several stickers were covering the remaining of the facade where it hadn't fallen off. Above the entrance, the name of the club was handwritten in huge letters on corrugated sheet: _SO36_ it read.  
He shrugged before stepping up to the bouncer, a very grim looking guy. Tattoos, piercings, bald head, arms crossed in front of his extremely broad chest. Jinyoung’s eyes met his cold ones and he knew that if he broke the contact now, there was no chance he would let him in.  
“Ausweis, kleener!” the bouncer said, holding his palm out to him. Seeing the hint of confusion in Jinyoung’s eyes, he added: “ID.”  
Nodding, Jinyoung reached for his wallet again, took his ID and gave it to the gruff looking man. He stared at it for a moment, turned it, looked at Jinyoung again. “24, huh? Na dit globen wa ma.” he said, slapping the ID back into Jinyoung’s hand before patting his shoulder to guide him towards the entrance. Jinyoung thanked him with an equally short nod and hopped up the last two steps leading through a heavy, red curtain, into the club.  
The music got louder immediately, the bass already vibrating off the black but mostly sticker-covered walls around him. A few people hanging around in slightly darker corners in the narrow entrance area where the reddish light couldn’t reach. Most of them were drinking, smoking and talking, slightly shielded from the music coming from further down the hallway. Jinyoung just stood there for a short moment, breathing in the stuffy air that mixed with slight waves of fresh one whenever someone entered or exited the club.  
It wasn’t like Jinyoung has never been to a club before. He’s been out a lot back in Jinhae before but this one was already so so different from the makeshift clubs in the wet basements of various seafood restaurants down by the coast.  
“Hey, suchst du jemanden?” a voice suddenly said next to him before a boy stepped out of one of the groups in the corners. Someone over there made a whistling sound.  
“Sorry?” Jinyoung asked, focused on the boy in front of him. His hair was dyed in a silvery blonde, one Jinyoung had only seen in comics and on TV before. He was wearing a loose button up with a pinkish floral pattern and really, really short trunks in a shimmery blue that had Jinyoung double take to figure out what kind of material they were even made of. He didn’t have time to think about it as the boy spoke up again.  
“Redest du nicht mit mir?” he said. Lost because he didn’t understand a word, Jinyoung took note of the boy’s pointed canines and the shiny metal bead in the middle of his tongue instead.  
“Sorry I can’t understand a word you’re saying.” he then said, a sheepish smile on his lips.  
“Oh, you’re not from here?” the boy giggled and Jinyoung almost missed that he was indeed the first person to actually talk to him in a full sentence ever since he had left the airport. The way he pronounced each word giving away that he was fluent in American English.  
“No."  
"Ah sweet, a newbie. Listen, your bag. Your cute ass can just drop it at the bar. Tell them Mark sent you, okay?” with that, the boy winked at him and disappeared back into the middle of the group, some of them welcoming him with a clap onto the back. One slapped his butt.  
Left speechless, Jinyoung didn’t move from his spot for another second before finally snapping out of his moment of surprise. He smirked and pushed himself down the narrow corridor before finally arriving at another heavy cloth separating the corridor from the main area of the club. The music was flowing through the black curtain as Jinyoung shoved it aside, taking one last deep breath of the semi-fresh air before he stepped inside, hit by he full volume of the trance beats and a heavy cloud of stage smoke that hid the people dancing through it. Strobe lights flickered to the messy rhythm of the music, making Jinyoung feel as if he just stepped into another world. And maybe, that was the truth.  
Trying to get used to the limited sight, he pushed himself through the people, bumping into some, getting shoved himself…. he also felt like an Elephant in a china store with his bag constantly getting stuck somewhere between sweaty bodies.  
Luckily, he spotted the bar on the left, not far from where the curtain hid the outerworld. He fought his way through, sighing when he finally leaned over the counter.  
"Wie kann ick dir helfen, Schätzchen?" the girl behind it nearly screamed at him. She was a punky one. Her hair was bright red, one side shaved, the other kept long, ears pierced to the point where Jinyoung wondered how she even found the space for at least the last three piercings. Her lipstick was dark, lips pierced as well.  
"Hi!" Jinyoung called before heaving his bag onto the counter, denim jacket thrown on top. "Can I drop this here for the night?"  
She eyed the brown bag with a sceptical expression while wiping a glass dry with a holey towel.  
"Mark sent me." Jinyoung added quickly.  
At that, her eyes got a bit bigger before a bright smile appeared on her dark lips. "Mark? Oh boy... I can see why… " she then said loudly, a heavy German accent in her speech. "How old are you?"  
“What?” he screamed back, amused by only the smirk on her face which he couldn’t help but copy despite not catching her words due to the loud music.  
“Never mind, Schätzchen!” she winked as she grabbed the bag and pulled it off the counter, disappearing behind it for a second to put it onto the floor. “You want to drink? First is free.”  
“Just give me whatever then.” Jinyoung smiled, putting one foot onto the metal rail on the lower half of the counter in order to lean closer.  
The girl nodded and turned around, grabbing a bottle from the fridge behind her. With a swift movement, she cracked it open with a worn out bottle opener and shoved it across the counter. Jinyoung caught it, shivering slightly at how cold the bottle was against his finger tips. He nodded thanks at the girl before pushing himself away from the bar and back into the crowd, feeling better and freer now that the bag wasn’t demolishing his shoulder anymore.  
Another cloud of stage smoke filled the room and Jinyoung stopped moving for a second, just holding onto the ice cold and fogged bottle as people were bumping into him from every side, dancing like they were in some sort of trance. The floor was a bit sticky with all the drinks spilled between the crowd and other substances, Jinyoung was yet too sober to think about in detail.  
With each shove of a sweaty body, he mingled more and more with the flow, letting his own body get carried through the stuffy place and through the ravers. A hand on the jeans clad curve of his hip, a first clutched into the front of his already damp white t-shirt before pushing him away again, a flood of beer poured over his well-worn sneakers, a wet ponytail slapped into his face, another bottle of beer down his throat… and another… Someone offered him a cigarette, he took it...

Jinyoung’s head started to spin, the effects of the fourth beer doubled by the now almost suffocating atmosphere where even the air was filled with alcohol-streaked sweat and nicotine.  
At some point, a couple bumped into him, heavily making out like there was no tomorrow. They had their hands woven up in the remainings of each others' clothes as they shared a kiss like they wanted to eat the other alive. He dodged them by stumbling back a bit while just in that moment, a very skinny but tall South East Asian guy jumped between them. His hair was dyed a lighter shade of brown, a few blonde highlights in it as far as Jinyoung could make out in the purple-ish strobe lights. The guy laughed as the couple complained about his action and Jinyoung's dizzy self couldn't help but chuckle, thinking they deserved it for blindly involving innocent single strangers into their act of affection. Still snickering to himself, Jinyoung took a big sip from his already warm beer.  
His eyes met Mark's again when he glanced over the bottom of the bottle. The latter's smirk was still the same as earlier as he looked at him across half of the club, it was a bit mischievous but also unbelievably bright, making it hard for a pretty alcoholized Jinyoung not to stare at him. Something in his lower stomach flipped as he gulped down the last drop of the lukewarm beer rather loudly.  
Still trying to figure out what Mark's gaze really held for him, Jinyoung barely noticed the girl in his periphery taking off her sweat-soaked shirt, revealing her equally soaked, formerly white bra, until the other boy looked at her, erupting into a full blown laughter as soon as Jinyoung's involuntarily shocked glance fell onto her as well. Jinyoung could've sworn he heard his laughter through the booming music as they made eye-contact again.  
A few people around them gave the libertine girl a loud cheer while most of them didn't even care, blindly dancing for themselves as Mark lifted his bottle above their heads for Jinyoung to see, pointing it towards the exit. He gave him a short nod, another tingling rush of excitement running through his groin as he danced himself to where his tipsy self remembered the black curtain to be, dumping the end of his cigarette somewhere on the sticky floor. A new wave of stage smoke challenging him further while the ravers seemed to become more and more with every step he took.

The air in the hallway that felt so stuffy before, and probably still was, now seemed like a fresh wave of ocean breeze for Jinyoung as he leaned against the wall right next to the curtain, closing his eyes in hopes the world would stop spinning so fast. He ran a hand through his damp hair, the neat middle parting long forgotten before he turned to look at Mark with a knowing smirk.  
The latter stood next to him, an unreadable expression on his face but as soon as their eyes met, it changed into a smile that Jinyoung could read all the better. The silver-haired pushed his back off the wall and stepped around to stand right in front of him. "I have yet to know your name." he said.  
Jinyoung let out a weak chuckle dropping his head back against the wall. "Is that so?"  
"Yes. You look like you're feeling adventurous tonight."  
"You're not wrong." he said and felt his stomach making another anticipating flip that dropped even lower immediately. “It’s Jinyoung.”  
“You from Korea?”  
“Yeah.” he nodded and opened his eyes again, just to find Mark already closer than he expected and before one of them could say anything else, their lips were locked in a messy way.  
Mark's kiss was more tongue than anything else, the boy just licking his way into Jinyoung's mouth. It wasn't necessarily his cup of tea but drunk as he was, Jinyoung couldn't care less, just getting along with their wet exchange, only slightly humming in complaint. That was until the drag of the piercing ran along the underside of his own tongue, turning the hum into a moan.  
They were tangled up with each other in the split of a second, Jinyoung's fingers clawed into Mark's mostly unbuttoned, sweat-soaked shirt while the latter's hands ran through his straggly hair. Sober Jinyoung would've been disgusted. Drunk Jinyoung was too, but not enough to stop himself from touching the boy who was licking over his plump lips like they were sugary sweet instead of salty with the hint of beer.  
Mark's hands slid down his neck, pulling him further into what they were doing. A soft groan bubbled up in his throat as the blonde pushed his knee between Jinyoung's legs. His bare thigh suggestively rubbing against his crotch.  
Jinyoung rolled his hips into the contact, another moan leaving his lips when they broke their kiss for air. But Mark was quick to pick it up again, cutting off the sound with a kiss that felt almost desperate to Jinyoung. Giving it no thought, he let Mark shove him a bit to the side, further into one of the darker corners. His back met the wall again, the vibrations of the bass pleasantly running through his body as Mark gave his lips another lick with his flat tongue, the piercing running along his top lip. The blonde then slid his lips down his jaw, hungrily kissing his way to his sweat covered collarbones, fingers now pulling on the hem of his shirt to keep it out of the way. Jinyoung leaned his head against the wall, the back of his hand rubbing over his mouth as the lick there lingered a bit too long. Mark didn't notice, giving the crook of his neck another wet kiss before letting go of his shirt, making it cling to his body again.  
Jinyoung shivered, the wet fabric suddenly feeling a little cold against his skin. The blonde's hands slid down from his shoulders then, grazing over his hardened nipples before resting on his hips, fingers tucked beneath the black leather belt. After another sloppy kiss, Mark sank onto his knees, hands working to open Jinyoung's jeans.  
The latter sucked in a sharp breath, his hips jerking forward the moment the pressure of the solid denim against his growing erection was gone. Mark giggled, still clutching the pants now wrapped around Jinyoung's tense thighs as he leaned forward, mouthing at his boxer-brief clad cock.  
A strained whimper left Jinyoung's lips, hips snapping again as Mark licked over the thin fabric, his hot breath and the tickle of the piercing sending Jinyoung's mind spiraling. He clutched his left hand into the bleach blonde hair, the right still breaching the sticker-covered wall next to him.  
"Fuck!" he hissed when Mark pressed his flat tongue against the underside of his cock, the piercing boldly tracing him through the completely soaked fabric before the blonde finally pulled his boxers down. Jinyoung sighed in both, relief and the need for more, as Mark closed his lips around his tip almost immediately, heat spreading from his crotch all over his already way too warm body, giving him shivers still.  
Jinyoung's list of received blowjobs wasn't long by any means, one shared behind the closed door of his childhood bedroom back at his parents house, one by the harbour, downstairs at the fishy smelling basement club he used to frequent after graduating. It was to forget about the first one. But neither of them felt as sloppy and wet as what the blonde boy kneeling in front of him was currently offering.  
Jinyoung's breathing became less and less even with every lick, the piercing suddenly feeling even hotter against his sensitive skin as it rolled over the swollen veins. It then dawned him why the piercing had been Mark's accessory of choice as he choked back another moan, the foreign feeling causing another bubble of heat building up in his stomach. He pressed himself closer against the wall, trying to get even more of the bass vibrations to massage his body as Mark started sucking, cheeks hollowed, taking him as deep as he could.  
Jinyoung rolled his eyes back, his lips falling open to release some sighs as his hips started to stutter, torn between thrusting into the wet heat and chasing for the vibrations of the wall against his lower back. He tore his right hand off the wall and pressed it against the back of Mark’s head. The latter shifted forwards on his knees, thankfully forcing Jinyoung closer against the wall. Mark’s jerky breath felt cold by now, brushing through Jinyoung’s pubes in short, uneven blows. Looking down at the blonde, he could see that the other had pushed his right hand into his shorts, giving himself nearly frantic strokes that matched the speed of the music still dominating the whole place. Letting out another moan, Jinyoung tipped his head back again, dizzy from the lack of control over his own breathing. His fingers curled into the blonde’s hair to steady himself, the hand pressed against the wall next to him not enough to prevent him from doubling over. His knees felt like giving in any time, his senses reduced to the bare minimum. The electronic beats seemed to fill his head, getting louder but more and more blurry with each second he got closer to the edge. The heat of Mark’s mouth shot through his body again, along with the vibration of the other’s seemingly soundless moans. Jinyoung could feel the bob of his head becoming unsteady, his lips tightening around his cock, another moan cut off by an uncontrolled thrust of his own hips and a short gag. He gave the blonde locks a forceful tug, knowing he couldn’t last any longer.  
Mark pulled back immediately, sitting down on his thighs with his head thrown back, hand still stroking his cock now peeking out from underneath the waistband of his shorts.  
Jinyoung was quick to replace the heat of Mark’s mouth with his own hand, jerking it up and down his spit and precum lubed cock until a flash of white struck his vision. He didn’t try to muffle his moan, knowing the music would do it for him as he jerked himself through his orgasm, aiming at the pitch dark floor to avoid further mess on his hands and clothes.  
Beside him, Mark didn’t seem to care, finishing across his own stomach, floral shirt pushed up so that he could touch his own nipple.  
Jinyoung watched him as he gave himself a few last, messy strokes. His head was buzzing by now, blood rushing in his ears, bass still booming through his body, alcohol fucking with his balance and the aftershocks from his orgasm affecting his stableness. With a sigh, he leaned back against the wall, holding onto it with his left hand while tucking his dick away, grimacing only slightly at how sticky everything felt when he pulled the zipper up.  
Mark was now completely sitting on the floor, shirt back down, shorts back up, head hanging low. He ran a hand through his hair (Jinyoung hoped it wasn’t the cum stained one) before he looked up again, giving him a toothy grin, still panting a bit.  
“Come, get up.” Jinyoung then said, softly nudging him with his foot. “The floor’s dirty.”  
“You don’t say.” he retorted with a cheeky smirk towards Jinyoung before getting back up onto his feet, licking his pointy canines. He then reached for Jinyoung’s hand, the latter cringed at the sticky contact but let himself get pulled out of the corner and back behind the curtain, back into the crowd, among the ravers...

The dashboard clock of the taxi read 5:37AM as Jinyoung climbed into the backseat, completely worn out, wasted and drenched in sweat, his denim jacket being little to no help to prevent him from shivering a bit. His lips felt numb, his erection was fading, killed by the alcohol and the heavy bag on his lap. He also felt sick.  
_Don't throw up, Jinyoung. Not on your first night. Not in the car._  
Mark plopped into the seat beside him, giggling after having a messy conversation with someone they met outside the club. Something about Flintstone characters and steamed buns and Jinyoung didn’t even want to know.  
“Where do you even live?” Mark asked him after the taxi driver bleated something over his shoulder, heavily accented German, Jinyoung didn’t understand. He just pointed at his bag, yawning loudly. “Nowhere.”  
Mark hummed before telling the driver some address. The older man groaned but took off.  
Jinyoung leaned his head against the somehow cooling window of the car, hugging his bag closer to his body. Mark sighed loudly before letting himself fall to the side, sprawling seemingly uncomfortably across the backseat, one leg up on the seat, head somewhere between Jinyoung’s thigh and his bag.  
“Why are you here?”  
“Because you told me to get in.” Jinyoung said, watching the streetlights outside turning off one by one as the sky turned from black into a faint blue. Shop owners unlocked the doors, men in suits with briefcases hopped into their cars or down the subway stairs. Other than them, the streets seemed deserted.  
“I’m talking about Berlin.” Mark mumbled. Jinyoung wondered whether his voice was really that muffled or if the music had reduced his hearing. And maybe it wasn’t the sound of the engine but a tinnitus…  
“University.” he finally answered as Mark’s question had sunken in.  
The blonde scoffed. "Sure, looks like it."  
"Semester starts in October…”  
"I know, I know…" Mark giggled again. "And until then, you planned on fucking around to find a bed for the night?"  
It was Jinyoung’s time to snort out a short laughter. Maybe his first night plan wasn’t something Mark was unfamiliar with. But it had in fact worked out just fine. "Not for the long run but you basically offered yourself."  
"For that ass of yours? Anytime!"  
The cab driver cleared his throat as he glanced at the two men through the rearview mirror, making them erupt into another fit of giggles.  
“My ass isn’t available, just so you know.” Jinyoung then announced after a short pause. "You live far away?"  
The question remained unanswered since Mark was clearly passed out in his weird position, snoring softly. Jinyoung sighed, hoping that the driver would find the way after all as he went back to watch the fading hustle and bustle through the window.  
The rest of the drive went by in a blur, houses, street lights, trees, a break because they had to pee, more trees, less houses…  
Jinyoung could barely register stumbling through a garden gate and up a few flights of stairs before falling into a really, really soft bed.


	2. Chapter 2

Jinyoung woke up due to a lot of movement beside him. Headache and disgust hitting him seconds after. With a loud groan he tried to sit up, slowly in order not to throw up on the spot.  
The corner of the down blanket slipped off his clothed chest, leaving a cold spot as he rubbed his eyes.  
“Good morning.” Mark greeted him. The blonde was sitting next to him on the bed, hair wet from a shower, legs folded. He was wearing a clean, pink polo shirt, a pair of gray briefs and white socks. A snow white towel was draped around his shoulder. The complete opposite to the boy he was the night before.  
Looking at him, Jinyoung felt even more disgusting, still wearing his clothes from last night. He groaned again and let himself fall back into the pillows. Instant regret overcame him once his head started throbbing more furiously.  
“What time is it?” he asked, his voice cracking.  
“Almost four pm. And I have to throw you out. My parents will be home in a minute. Don’t worry I called a cab for you.”  
“Can I shower first?”  
“Please do.” Mark chuckled. “Bathroom’s directly opposite. Towels under the sink.”  
“Thanks.” Jinyoung mumbled before rolling off the bouncy, king sized bed. Only then he noticed how spacious the room was. The ceiling was probably twice as high as the one of his bedroom at the farm. Two big windows let the sun flood the wooden floor and the ivory white walls. A medium sized chandelier was hanging off the stucco framed ceiling, reflecting bits of the sunlight against various surfaces like the massive, dark wooden desk between the windows or the chest of drawers at the end of the bed.  
Jinyoung sat on the edge of the mattress, looking around in awe as Mark spoke up.  
"Fancy, huh?"  
"Very." he couldn't help but agree. "Is that how you keep your hookups interested the next day? After they find the sexy boy from last night in a pink polo shirt and white socks?"  
Mark laughed at that. "I usually spend the night at theirs. But are you impressed?"  
"Very. But for different reasons than you might think." Jinyoung deadpanned before getting up, slowly, reaching for his bag that he seemed to have just dropped beside the bed last night.  
Mark shuffled to get up as well, watching Jinyoung as he lifted the bag and made his way towards the door. "Wait… what do you mean?"  
"History major. The house is from the time between the 19th and 20th century, right? Jugendstil. My favorite."  
Mark gaped at him but Jinyoung just smirked and left the room, feeling a bit triumphant after receiving that kind of reaction.  
As instructed, he crossed the wide hallway, decorated with framed family portraits and potted plants. To his left, Jinyoung got a glimpse of the expanding staircase leading down to the entrance, a huge, wooden double door. The chandelier hanging above the entrance hall was probably twice as big as the one in Mark's room.  
Jinyoung closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath before pushing down the handle of the bathroom door.  
He wasn't surprised to see the huge size of the room, white marble everywhere he looked, golden faucets on the double sink, the big bathtub in the corner, the shower… it was something he had seen in movies. For a second he pictured himself as Vivian in Pretty Woman, sitting in that bathtub while singing along to songs on his walkman. Chuckling at his own silliness, he shook his head before dropping his bag onto the floor beside his feet and locking the door.  
Getting out of the dirty clothes felt great. He wrinkled his nose, pulling the smelly shirt over his head. He hadn't realized just how much he smelled like sweat and cold cigarettes until now.  
He kicked the dirty pile aside then, stepping out of his boxer briefs before hopping into the shower, finally scrubbing off the past two days with hot water and Mark’s body wash, the scent triggering only faint memories of joined lips and touches from last night. Rushed, hot, wet.  
He was brought back to reality by a knock on the bathroom door just as he exited the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist.  
“Hey!” Mark’s voice came out in a faint whisper. “My parents just pulled up in the driveway. Get your cute ass dressed please. They… can’t know.”  
“Sure.” Jinyoung said, the scenario all too familiar to be surprised as he already reached for his bag, searching for the second pair of jeans he brought. A bit torn and too tight but better than traveling with one pair only. He found it then, quickly pulling it out along with a clean pair of boxer-briefs, a white shirt and a blue flannel. “Be right there.”  
He got dressed in less than a minute, finishing by pulling the belt through the loops of his jeans, buckling it after throwing the towel over his head. He grabbed the bag, zipped it up and rushed out of the bathroom. His bare feet were almost soundless as he tiptoed across the hallway. Downstairs, he could hear an animated conversation between Mark’s parents as they pulled their luggages across the entrance hall.  
Holding his breath, he slipped back into Mark’s room, the latter being quick to push the door close behind him, trapping Jinyoung between himself and the wooden portal. He had put on a pair of beige dress pants.  
“We’re waiting for my parents to come upstairs to unpack their things and then we run.” he whispered. Jinyoung nodded just before he heard the voices getting louder, followed by footsteps coming up the stairs. They went past the room, talking animatedly in a mix of English and Mandarin. “Now.” Mark then said and before Jinyoung could reply, he was getting dragged down the curved, wooden stairs, his bag already bringing back the pain it had caused the previous days. Now being more or less sober, Jinyoung wondered how they didn't manage to knock down some of those expensive looking vases standing around in the black and white tiled entrance hall last night. He clutched his bag tighter, not wanting it to cause any damage in that house that looked more and more pricey with every time Jinyoung blinked and spotted a new item. Before he could take another, proper glance at the chandelier and the paintings, American ones that he hoped were only copies of the originals, Mark lead him through the heavy door and onto the porch. The door fell shut behind them. Jinyoung nearly toppled over, leaning dangerously close towards the flight of stairs beneath him, his head spinning from the quick movements. He hastily grabbed the thick concrete handrail.  
"Sorry." Mark just said, followed by a cute giggle before hopping down the stairs, pushing the gate open. Jinyoung took another deep breath, still holding onto the handrail to stop the world from spinning. Only then he dared walking down the stairs without letting go of the handrail.  
Once he got both feet on the cobbled ground, he reached for one of the metal street poles. The taxi driver looked at them, slightly annoyed.  
Mark didn't seem to care as he stepped closer towards Jinyoung, holding a piece of paper and some money for Jinyoung to take. "Here." he said.  
Jinyoung eyed the piece of paper, an address written on it. "What's this?"  
"A… friend… he's currently living alone because his roommate moved out. And he's also Korean. Might be helpful since apparently, you don't know any German at all."  
"What a coincidence." Jinyoung mumbled, looking at Mark's neat handwriting while taking the snippet.  
"And here… some money for the cab." the blonde shoved the stack back into his vision.  
Jinyoung just pushed it aside, slightly embarrassed. "Thanks but I don't need it. I still got some money with me."  
"You sure?"  
In fact, Jinyoung was sure he didn’t but he still had some pride left and this wasn’t Pretty Woman after all.  
"Yes."  
"Okay then… see you around I guess? You know where to find me… once in a while..." Mark said, pushing the money back into the pocket of his pants.  
"I do. And thanks." were Jinyoung's last words as soon as he dropped down into the seat and pulled the door shut.  
"Deutsch oder Englisch?” the taxi driver asked, looking at him through the rear view mirror.  
“E-english, please.” Jinyoung answered, almost a bit surprised that he even saw English as an option.  
“You not from here?" the driver then wondered. Jinyoung looked back out of the window, watching Mark disappear back into the pompous house.  
It was painted in a faint orange, balconies artfully framed with concrete railings - just like the stairs leading up to the entrance. A big tree was standing on it's right side, throwing a pretty shadow against the façade as the warm afternoon light shone through it. A waist high hedge in lush green surrounded the place as if to hide it away.  
"No, I'm not. Can you please drive me to this place?" Jinyoung then answered, not sure how long it took him to process the former question before he handed him the snippet.  
"No problem." the driver said with a weird smirk, giving it back to him before driving off, down the bumpy cobbled street.  
Jinyoung stared out of the window in awe as they passed mansion after mansion, each bigger and prettier than the last. Just like Mark's, most of them were hidden away behind heavy gates, hedges and trees. A few had broad driveways, a Mercedes-Benz C-Class here, one or two Cadillacs there. It was obvious that this was quite a wealthy area, mostly in American hands. Putting one and one together, Jinyoung guessed that Mark took him to the south-western part of the city where the American allies had resided during the cold war and still did.  
They rounded a few more corners, crossed a few more cobbled streets until the driver pulled onto a bigger, asphalted two-lane road. The houses left and right got replaced with nothing but trees, a whole forest even. On their right side, a couple of rails led parallel to the street.  
Despite the area looking less lively than the place before, there were way more cars around, speeding up just like taxi did. Jinyoung let himself sink further into the backseat, feeling like they won't be there anytime soon. He watched the trees and cars rushing past them, feeling oddly reminded of home. Except that there were no hills or even mountains around, the road cutting a straight line through the landscape.  
The driver turned up the volume of the radio, singing along to a Roxette song. It must’ve been a new one, Jinyoung hadn’t heard it before. But he found himself tapping his fingers against his thigh as the driver broke into the chorus, completely off key.  
_“Sleeping in my car, I will undress you~ Sleeping in my car, I will caress you~”_  
Probably a great song for a taxi driver, Jinyoung thought, chuckling softly to himself before allowing his eyes to fall close for a moment.  
It was around five songs later, when he opened them again. They had left the forest behind, now rushing down the streets between warehouses, car dealers, furniture stores and apartment buildings, most of them slightly bigger than the ones Jinyoung had walked past the day before. He glanced at the taximeter then, sucking in a sharp breath.  
“Excuse me… how far is it?” he asked out loud.  
He knew that Berlin was a big city, especially compared to Jinhae. But his memory of last night’s ride home was limited to a blurry rush and the will not to throw up. He could only guess how far out he had been and having no clue about where exactly that friend of Mark’s lived, he couldn’t help but worry about the distance.  
“Should’ve taken the tip from your suitor earlier, huh?”  
“He’s not…” Jinyoung automatically started to brush the words off until he bit his tongue, rolling his eyes at his own skittishness. It was none of the taxi driver’s business anyways. “So? How long will it take us there?”  
“Around twenty minutes maybe? Half an hour? Depends on the traffic.” the driver shrugged. “Maybe you should charge your next client with the traveling costs then.”  
“Wha-” Jinyoung gaped at the back of the man’s head. He knew he shouldn’t care about what a taxi driver thought about him. But it must’ve been the adrenaline from last night and the whole new situation involving the fact that he did feel a little cheap, that the words kept preying on his mind. “If you keep making weird assumptions about me, I won’t pay at all.”

And to cut the following part short, that was how Jinyoung ended up in an overcrowded train, half of his changed money spent on the ride, 3,50 DM spent on a ticket.  
In a Hollywood movie, he thought, this would be the moment where everything faded into the opening credits, the situation a visualization of his life - thrown into the unknown due to his own revolt. A David Bowie song would be playing while the viewer got a glimpse of Jinyoung's past. A compilation containing a well-known seafood restaurant owned by his family, an impaired parent-son relationship, first love, first heartbreak and equally broken trust.  
But this still wasn't a movie and Jinyoung just wanted to leave all that behind. He reduced the scenes in his head to a vision of his smiling grandparents before he came back to reality.  
Not that it was an especially pretty one.  
His hand was already hurting worse than after brooming the barn from how hard he was clutching the grab pole, the folded city map awkwardly tucked between his pinky and ring finger. His bag was on the ground by now, shoved between his feet, the strap still in his left hand.  
With a loud, rattling noise, the train leaned into another curve, making everyone stumble to the side for the nth time. Jinyoung bumped into an older man behind him, only to bounce right off his huge belly. He pressed his lips together and shivered in discomfort, angling his body closer to the pole and away from the man but the latter seemed to take the avoidance as an invitation to spread his potbelly all over Jinyoung’s personal space.  
Cuddly bus rides weren't anything Jinyoung wasn't used to. Growing up in the outskirts of Jinhae, the only way to move from one point to another was to take one of the few busses that passed the corner behind his parents' house every hour. It was the most used line out of the few leading to the city center and thus, there was barely a time where he was alone on the bus. Except for the nights spent at the club that is. Then, the bus driver would always eye him suspiciously as he got onto the first bus at 4am. Jinyoung soon started to walk home after his nights out.  
The buzzing ding dong sounded through the speakers above him, followed by the absolutely unclear announcement of the next station. Jinyoung squinted up at the network plan luckily hanging above his head, trying to figure out where exactly he was. If the outworn letters didn’t fail him and he had counted right after stopping at Alexanderplatz (a place he knew from the tourist guides he's read on the flight), the next station had to be his destination. A rush of excitement overcame him, different from last night but no less tingly in his stomach as the train left the tunnel, emerging from the darkness into the now already orange afternoon light. Jinyoung angled his head to the side a bit, trying to avoid the sun shining right into his face as he stared out the greasy window to take in his new surroundings. The train made its way further up until they were above the streets, allowing him to properly look down the road building lines here and there, watch the cars struggle through the evening rush hour. The houses here looked quite similar to the ones around the club, just a lot more run down from what he could see before the train slowed down and entered the roofed station, sealed off by green, riveted steel walls. The breaks squeaked loudly again as the train stopped eventually.  
Jinyoung quickly picked up his bag, totally not caring about knocking it into the old man's potbelly as he shoved himself towards the doors that had just clattered open.  
"Excuse me… can you… I gotta…" he hissed, squeezing through the people blocking the door. "I gotta get out!"  
A woman holding a huge potted plant looked at him, a bit scandalized at his sudden outburst before she stepped aside, allowing Jinyoung to hop onto the platform. He took a deep breath of the fresh air... at least it was fresher than the air inside of the train. It still smelled like rust, beer and... he didn't want to think about it in detail, the headache and the sick feeling from last night still too present in his memory.  
The doors fell shut behind him with a loud, rattling noise while the train hooted its signal. It took off then, leaving a strong gust of wind swirling around underneath the steel structure.  
He ran a hand through his unstyled hair, pushing the tips of the strands out of his eyes.  
There weren’t too many people on the platform, just a few waiting for the train on the other side. The ones who got off along with Jinyoung, had already disappeared down the stairs of the overground station.  
“Okay…” he mumbled to himself, leaning against the wrought-iron handrail which was just as green as the walls around him, crested with a wooden bar on top. He unfolded his city map again, turning it around for a moment to adapt the direction to his current location.  
“Kann ich Ihnen helfen?” someone suddenly asked next to him. His eyes shot up from the map, landing on an elderly lady. In her hand, she was holding a shopping net, filled with several groceries. She was quick to pick up on Jinyoung’s helpless expression. Instead of trying to talk again, she just pointed at the shred of paper sticking between Jinyoung’s thumb and the map. He gave it to her.  
She took a moment to read Mark’s handwriting before she pointed to her left, down the street Jinyoung knew there was from earlier. “Da...” she said, handing him the paper back. “Da lang.”  
Relief washed over him as he bowed to her, quickly grabbing his shoulder strap to not let the bag fall. That thing was starting to seriously annoy him. “Danke.” he mumbled.  
The woman smiled at him, obviously startled by the bow. Jinyoung couldn’t help but chuckle at her expression before he swung around the handrail and skipped down the stairs. Too fast, he realized as his head started throbbing again while he was waiting for the street light to turn green.  
It was a rather used road he walked down at first, cars were passing by nonstop and he definitely wasn't the only person on the sidewalk. Other than that, the whole area really looked rundown. The stucco decoration on the facades of these five-story houses was crumbling here and there. On top of that, some banners were hanging from one balcony to the next, huge letters written on bed sheets. It annoyed Jinyoung, that he couldn’t understand what they said. The color of the crested, wooden doors and window frames was peeling off. Some window panes were broken or fixed by just nailing a few planks in front of it. Yet, it didn't look like people had forgotten about these Jugendstil houses. The occupied apartments were decorated with flowers on the balconies or embroidered curtains behind the panes, making it seem so much more lively.  
When he turned left like the map told him to, everything still looked the same except for the street being a lot smaller and, again, cobbled. The evening sun was highlighting the pollen on top of the cars parking on the right side of the street. Everything on his left was already in the shadows.  
Further up, he could hear people chatting on their balconies as well as kids laughing and screaming joyfully somewhere down the street but other than that, it wasn’t as loud as Jinyoung expected this city to be. Behind him, the cars from the bigger road could be heard as well as the rattling of another train entering the station but everything was muffled by the houses around him. Humming softly to himself, Jinyoung crossed the street, seeing that the house he’s looking for, number 24, must be on the other, still sunny side.  
“16, 18, 20…” he counted to himself, looking at the number signs hanging next to the shabby doors. And that was when he stopped in his tracks.  
There was a man sitting on the ground floor windowsill of house 22, right next to him. His broad back was leaning against the frame, head thrown back against it as well. His closed eyes and his fair skin were partly hidden by his rather long, black hair, the locks pressed down by an orange knit cap. Jinyoung’s stomach made a little flip as he let his eyes trail down the perfect profile of the man’s nose. He was wearing an oversized, washed out red sweater, his forearms resting on his bent knees, clad in light blue, baggy jeans. Jinyoung felt the flipping inside of him again, looking at the man’s fingers, thick rings shining on it. An amused scoff left his lips then, the look oddly reminding him of the latest Snoop Doggy Dogg music video.  
Only then he realized that next to the white, holey socks, underneath his bent knees, was cat. A fluffy Siamese, dozing on the purple blanket messily thrown over the windowsill. It’s tail was slowly swinging from side to side, twitching slightly whenever it touched the man’s legs.  
Jinyoung eyed the scene for a moment, letting his gaze wander up to the man’s chest, slowly moving up and down, his quite prominent Adam’s apple, his jaw, the black locks curling around his face, his slightly parted lips… The way the sun was shining right onto him, outlined all these sharp features that Jinyoung couldn’t help but notice resembled the feline beneath him. He inwardly cursed himself for not having his camera ready to snap a picture. But then again, the man probably would’ve woken up hearing the shutter.  
Jinyoung tore his eyes away, looking at the shred in his hand again.  
_“And he's also Korean.”_ Mark’s voice appeared in his head as he stared at the name on it. His eyes shot up again, quickly looking for the number again, his stomach tingling. Still 22. He blinked a few times before glancing at the house next door. 24. He bit his lip, threw the sleeping male one last look before walking towards the other door, suddenly afraid he would catch him staring.

He tried shaking the image out of his head as he pushed the heavy door of number 24 open. A unique smell surrounded him right away. It was an earthy scent; wood and molding walls. But it wasn't bad... it almost smelled like... home? It reminded him a bit of the basement club in Jinhae but without the fishy note. In front of him was a dark corridor, leading to the backyard door on the other side of it. On the left wall, around a dozen of mailboxes were attached, graffiti sprayed across of them, newspapers sticking out from a few, some tattered on the tiled floor. On his right, there were the stairs, covered in a worn-out, red carpet.  
Jinyoung looked down at Mark’s note again. Third floor it said and he instantly felt a bit foolish for thinking that the handsome man next door could’ve been his possible new roommate for even a second. The stairs squeaked under his feet, despite his steps sounding quite dull due to the carpet. His bag kept dragging along the gray walls now and again. There was some graffiti on them too.  
When he reached the third floor, he felt his head throbbing and his heart hammering again. The name written in Mark’s neat handwriting fit the one on the doorbell nameplate on his right, a post-it sticking above it read “DEFEKT” in red letters. Jinyoung hesitated a bit before knocking, praying that this would work out.  
“Hallo?” a tall, skinny boy stood appeared in front of him only seconds later, making him snap out of his thoughts. The boy’s hair was a little bit messy. In fact, everything about him was. His jeans were a bit too short and frayed, like someone ripped them off right above his ankles and revealed his mismatched socks. Holes in those, Jinyoung, thought to himself in amusement, must've been a local trend. His dark blue and yellow striped sweatshirt was only half tucked-in and his earrings didn't match each other either.  
“Are you Kim Yugyeom?” Jinyoung asked him in Korean while unfolding the paper with the address for the nth time today.  
“Yep.” the boy just said, his big mouth stretching into a wide grin. The way he stood there, hand still on the doorknob while waiting for Jinyoung to say something reminded him of a huge toddler. “And you are?”  
“Park Jinyoung… I got your address from Mark-”  
Yugyeom cut him off immediately, his already big eyes widening even more along with his smile. “Mark? Mark Tuan?”  
“He didn’t introduce himself to me formally but I guess so.” Jinyoung shrugged, starting to wonder why everyone reacted to the blonde boy’s name the way they did.  
Yugyeom laughed at that. “I bet he didn’t. So let me guess... you’re looking for a place?”  
Jinyoung nodded. “I don’t even care for how long. I just have to… establish myself a bit here.”  
“Amazeballs! Come in then.” the lanky boy grinned, finally letting go of the door to step aside.  
Jinyoung followed him into the apartment. Inside, he was faced with another narrow and dark hallway. A mustard-yellow wallpaper with flower pattern doubled the stifling effect, despite the ceiling being more than 3 meters high. The wooden floor underneath them creaked with every step. “It's been like this when I moved in." Yugyeom said after he followed his gaze. “One hundred percent GDR-style. My former roommate’s aunt lived here before. We just didn’t really change anything because it might be that they're gonna sell and renovate the whole house soon. Hope we can stay here and the rent won't go up much… Anyways, have you been in Berlin for long already?”  
Jinyoung shook his head as he toed off his shoes, shoving them aside to where the other boy’s worn-out sneakers were piled up as well. “I arrived here last night actually.”  
Yugyeom let out another laughter. “And headed to the club right away?”  
Jinyoung’s head shot up, staring directly into the boy’s eyes. “How do you know that?”  
“You said you met Mark.” he chuckled. “That gave you away. My friend was at that party, too. Told me he saw Mark there, leaving with some stranger. And now that you’re standing here I can’t help but think said stranger’s name is… Park Jinyoung?”  
Jinyoung snorted, trying to hide the feeling of being caught. Instead, he shrugged. “My plan was successful, wasn’t it? Got to spend the first night in a comfy bed and made some useful contacts.”  
“Woah! You’re sneaky, Park Jinyoung-ssi.” Yugyeom smirked, pointing a finger at him before spreading his arms, pushing his palms against the walls of the hallway on both sides, swaying from one side to the other. “Come I’ll show you the place.”  
Jinyoung nodded before Yugyeom spun around, walking down the hallway to point door at the end of it. “This is my room. It’s also the living room. Here’s the kitchen,” he pointed at the door to his right. “And your room is right there. Just drop your bag there first. My ex-roomie left most of her stuff there. She left in a hurry… ”  
“Ugly breakup?” Jinyoung asked, taking off the shoulder strap of his bag while stepping into the room Yugyeom had led him to.  
In there, the mustard-yellow wallpaper had been torn off for the most part. Only a few shreds were peeping out from behind an old-fashioned wardrobe and a wobbly desk on his right and underneath the window board. The rest of the walls were sloppily painted in white. A medium sized black wooden bed was placed underneath the window on the opposite side of the room, black curtains framing the source of light. On his left was a bookshelf spreading across the humble length of the room. A collection of books, about as big as his own at home, was filling most of it as well as some decoration pieces such as vases and obviously self-made, abstract figurines. What didn’t fit the picture were the broken records, picture frames and ripped photos on the floor.  
“Yep. Ugly breakup.” Yugyeom said, appearing beside him, following his gaze to the fragmented memories. “Not mine, though.”  
“Oh. Good.” Jinyoung uttered, as he dropped his bag onto the bed and made his way over to the mess. The frames had obviously been pushed out of the shelf, torn open to rip the photos out and into tiny pieces. The black shards of the records were just sticking out of the pile here and there. He pushed it to the side with his foot. “Looks really ugly though.”  
“Yeah I know. I just didn’t bother cleaning up after her mess, you know?” Yugyeom said, shrugging. Jinyoung blinked at him, confused for a second but then he couldn’t help but laugh at that. Shaking his head, he turned around again, opening his bag.  
Immediately, the scent of sweat and cold cigarettes hit his nose again, almost making him gag. He’d have to find a laundromat soon, he thought as he threw all of his clothes across the bed.  
“Just make yourself at home. I’m in my room if you’ve got any question. I can give you a tour around the neighborhood later if you want.” Yugyeom giggled. “Not that there’s much to show.”  
“Alright. Thanks.” Jinyoung said. “Really.” And it was when the boy was about to leave the room that Jinyoung realized that there was one thing missing about the little apartment tour. “Wait. Where’s the bathroom?”  
Yugyeom’s lips formed a silent “oh” before he grinned again. “Right. So you leave the apartment, go down the first flight of stairs and then there’s a door on your left.”  
Jinyoung gaped at him. Even his grandparents had upgraded their old farm with an indoor bathroom years ago. And now this boy was telling him that… “What?”  
Again, Yugyeom shrugged. “Welcome to the wild east. These houses haven’t been taken care of since World War II. I’m glad the toilet is indoors and not somewhere across the backyard.”  
“Cold comfort...” Jinyoung mumbled before shuffling back to the pile of dirty clothes on his bed. The other just snickered softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooo here... came nothing :P but I PROMISE the next chapters will be more eventful. really. please fell free tell me what you think so far~~  
> also take care, stay safe~ and thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

“Are you planning on getting a job before the semester starts?” Yugyeom asked, squeezing his empty coca cola can from the vending machine as he leaned over the washing machine where Jinyoung was folding his freshly washed clothes. The latter hummed in response.  
“I’ll have to, eventually. Gotta pay you the rent.” he chuckled. “I just don’t know what to do. I was actually hoping to get a job on campus once the semester starts or something… but that might be too late.”  
“Hmm…” Yugyeom put the distorted can onto the grey surface before turning around, performing some kind of stretching exercise with his hands pressed against it. “It’s… really tough to get a job lately.”  
“Don’t you have one?” Jinyoung wondered.  
The boy smiled sheepishly, straightening up and scratching the back of his neck nervously. “I’m... living off the state’s education support… I’m still enrolled at university. International Relations. Don’t ask.”  
“Oh really?” Jinyoung almost winced at how surprised he sounded at that revelation. But Yugyeom just laughed it off, turning to look around the laundromat. Except for the two of them, there was only one man sitting in the opposite corner. He was reading his newspaper while waiting for his seemingly only pair of pants to come out of the dryer.  
“Yeah. But they’ll exmatriculate me sooner or later… Haven’t attended any class in a while. It’s just not for me.”  
Jinyoung hummed once more, putting the last piece of clothing into his bag in silence before turning towards the younger boy. “And then?”  
“Then I’ll have to find a job and eventually pay back the money.” Yugyeom shrugged while Jinyoung zipped up his bag and threw the strap over his shoulder which still remembered the pain from three days ago. “By the way… what do you study?”  
“History and Cultural Studies.” Jinyoung answered, pushing the door open to step out onto the sidewalk.  
“Why didn’t you study in Seoul then?” Yugyeom wondered.  
Jinyoung shrugged. “Didn’t want to. For several reasons… I just wanted to start anew in another country, far from home. Long story.”  
Yugyeom just nodded as they strolled down the street, back home.  
“Where did you live in Korea? Your dialect sounds like you're from Seoul but also not really.” Jinyoung then asked, now curious about the boy’s story.  
The latter chuckled. “I’m not… actually from Korea, you know? I mean I was born there but I’ve lived probably everywhere by now. But yes, my parents are from Seoul… or nearby at least. Thus the dialect I guess.”  
Jinyoung looked at the boy, one eyebrow raised. “Define everywhere.”  
“Literally everywhere.” he laughed. “Shortly after I was born my dad got a job offer in Saudi Arabia. We moved there but when my dad lost his job a year later, they didn’t wanna go back to Korea, fearing that they wouldn’t find work there either. So they went to Brisbane first, San Francisco next, Chicago, New York, São Paulo, Paris,… Now I can’t even list you all the places I’ve lived at. Eventually my parents decided to just temporarily live for rent at random people’s living rooms for as long as they wanted them to stay. They’re currently living with an elderly lady in Port Elizabeth I think.”  
“That does explain why you didn’t even hesitate to let me stay with you.” Jinyoung laughed. “But wow. When and why did you decide to stay here then?”  
The boy shrugged again. “Been here for close to four years now and… I dunno, dude… the day we moved here I just kind of fell in love with this city."  
Jinyoung's eyes were still on the younger, eyebrows raised in interest as he quickly started calculating. Yugyeom's following statement then confirmed his thoughts.  
"The wall had just fallen a few months ago and… it was like everyone in this city was so eager to do something, anything to start over. It was a unique feeling all over the city. But my parents couldn't find work here at all."  
Jinyoung hummed for the nth time during the younger's story. He knew about those hardships. Almost over night, East Germany had disappeared and a year later, the whole country had dissolved into nothing but its people, most of them left without their jobs. It was only logical that it was especially hard finding work as a foreigner but despite knowing that, he himself was willing to try. If a whole country could start anew, so could he. Even if that meant to sacrifice.  
"I begged my parents to let me stay the day they announced they'd be leaving for Oslo." he chuckled softly. "Thank god I had just turned 18. So they let me. And I still don't regret that decision. Sure, some people come across as grumpy… but most people actually aren’t when you get to know them better. I’ve made good friends. And then… the clubs, the music, the food, Matthias Reim…”  
“Who?”  
“Ah, never mind.” Yugyeom laughed. “It just... feels good. Being here.”  
Jinyoung didn’t miss the hint of pink creeping up the other’s cheeks but decided not to tease him about it. He just smiled to himself as they continued their way home in comfortable silence.  
When they passed their neighboring house again, Jinyoung couldn’t stop himself from staring at a certain ground floor window. But just like this morning, it was still shut off by light green plastic blinds. Jinyoung looked at it for a few more seconds, wondering where the man from the day before could be on that sunny Saturday afternoon. Was he out with friends? Did he spend the day with someone special? Why didn’t he sit on his windowsill again so that Jinyoung could get another glimpse… He shook his head, feeling foolish for letting that thought cross his mind.  
“Jinyoung?” Yugyeom suddenly called, having unlocked the front door of their house already. “You coming, dude?”  
“Coming.” Jinyoung nodded, giving the green blinds one last glance before following his roommate back inside.

Jinyoung wasn’t a clean freak by any means. Keeping things nice and organized wasn’t something conquering his mind very often and yet, he spent the rest of the afternoon sorting his clothes into the wardrobe and made room for some other things he had brought. He blew some dust off several surfaces, wiped fingerprints off the window with the sleeve of his black sweater before falling back down onto the squeaky bed with a sigh, staring at the ceiling.  
Someone must have tried to remove the stucco above the window, he realized, shaking his head in disbelief. It was obvious the house used to be splendid, just like Mark’s family’s mansion. But underneath all the torn flower wallpapers and several damages on the outside, the beauty of the Jugendstil house was close to gone gone.  
Jinyoung let out another sigh, letting his arm drop to the left where it hit a sharp object. He hissed, quickly sitting up to grab the culprit with both hands. He felt his features soften immediately.  
Even though he had sworn not to bring anything that reminded him too much of his past in Jinhae and his parents, he couldn’t leave this particular picture behind. He put it onto the wobbly nightstand, running a finger down the dark wooden frame as he looked at it. His father had taken it at the farm when they picked him up by the end of summer in 1977. In it, there was a miniature version of himself, not yet seven years old, smiling brightly into the camera despite missing both of his front teeth. His ears looked especially large compared to the rest of his body. He was sitting on a horse, the old bay his grandparents had owned back then, while his grandmother held his waist so he wouldn't fall. His grandfather was holding the horse by the reins.   
Jinyoung smiled fondly at the monochrome picture, forcefully pushing aside the memories of his father giving him the old camera it was taken with on his 16th birthday, only to take it away from him one year later. _"If you can't find good motives, then I don't see why you should keep it."_  
He quickly shook his head, retreating his fingers as if he had burned himself on the frame before he jumped back onto his feet, grabbing the pile of four books he had brought. Not sparing the picture another glance, he made his way up to the book shelf, hugging his favorite books close to his chest while looking for a free space.  
His predecessor’s collection was as big as his own back home but naturally, all of the books were written or translated into German. Jinyoung scanned them for a moment, trying to understand some titles or recognize an author but most of the books’ covers looked rather contemporary. Love stories, crime novels, guidebooks and biographies of Marx, Luxemburg and other supporters of the labour movement. A couple of them, he realized, were the same ones he had left at home. He let his index finger run over the slightly dusty spines, slowly stepping to the side until he felt something sharp touch his bare toe.  
Looking down, he saw the pile of shattered frames, records and torn photos he had not yet touched while cleaning the rest of the room. He bent down, carefully brushing the glass aside to free some of the photo snippets before scrabbling around in the pile a bit, carefully trying to find the missing pieces. He started nibbling on the left side of his lower lip as he finally looked down at a photo of a couple’s hands, fingers intertwined on top of a shiny surface. The girl had a really pale, thin hand while the slightly more tanned hand with stubby fingers obviously belonged to a guy. Her nails were painted in black, a striking, silver ring decorating her ring finger. Jinyoung then realized that among all the rings the man was wearing on his thumb and index finger, a similar one was adorning his ring finger.   
He looked at the photo for a moment, lips still tucked between his teeth. It was indeed a pretty shot. Too bad the girl had ripped it into shreds, he thought, shrugging, before dragging it back into a pile and shoving it back to the rest of the mess. This was someone else’s past and looking at the gaps between the pieces, that certain someone intended to keep it in the past, just like he did.  
He got back up again, using his foot to shove some stray shards together before he went to get the black plastic trash basket from underneath the desk on the other side of the room. Careful not to cut himself, he then threw piece by piece away without looking through it any further. It was none of his business anyways.   
After shoving the basket back to its original place he patted his thighs, brushing the dust off his hands before running them over his face. Lacking an organizing routine, cleaning this room was demanding more of his strength than stacking up hay or mucking the pigsty out.  
He was just about to leave his room to get a glass of water from the kitchen when he heard an unfamiliar voice yelling down the hallway in only slightly broken English. "Kim Yugyeom! You really walking around like that?"  
The exclamation was followed by Yugyeom laughing loudly and socketed feet shuffling towards the kitchen. "It's fashion!"   
"Fashion my ass… they don't even match in style, dude."  
Jinyoung giggled while listening to the conversation, not sure whether the newcomer was talking about his roommate's socks or earrings. He waited for their voices to calm down a bit before finally pressing down the handle of his room's door.  
The wooden floor beneath his bare feet was squeaking softly as he, too, made his way over to the kitchen.  
The last thing Jinyoung expected was to see a familiar face the moment he peeked into the room. But right there, sitting on the kitchen counter, was the hyper brunette from the club. The one who had jumped around, cockblocking people while dancing wildly on his own.   
Yugyeom was standing right in front of him, between his skinny legs, hands leaning against the counter on both of his sides, their faces just inches apart as the boy was fumbling to put a new earring on Yugyeom.  
“Jinyoung!” the latter then looked up when the floor creaked underneath Jinyoung’s shifting feet once more. The boy was smiling even brighter than usual. “This is BamBam, my best friend.” Jinyoung noted that he was still talking in English.  
“Your… best friend.” he repeated slowly, eyeing their sweet position again with a smirk.   
BamBam’s highlighted hair was combed to a side parting this time, the lighter tips barely reaching the corner of his right eye. Big, shiny earrings were dangling on both sides of his slim face, matching the silver buttons of his loose, white blouse. It was unbuttoned but he had tied the bottom ends into a slack knot right underneath his pale chest, his washed out blue and also loose high waist jeans were held up by a thin brown belt tightly wrapped around his tiny waist.  
“Hi. That's how we meet again.” BamBam said, retreating his hand from Yugyeom’s ear. His thick lips were floating over the words. Only then Jinyoung noticed that he was holding another earring that matched one of the odd pair Yugyeom had been wearing since yesterday. "So you're Mark Tuan's new flame? Rumor spreads fast, you know?"  
"I totally wouldn't put it like that. Was a one time thing I guess." Jinyoung scoffed, amused by BamBam's wink, before he shoved himself into the narrow kitchen.  
BamBam turned back to Yugyeom then, a grin on his face as he leant forward again to finally attach the earring. "Thank god he knows. We don't need any more hearts broken around here."  
"I can hear you, you know. But I think I'm slowly getting a picture of Mark's reputation." Jinyoung hummed as he grabbed a cup from the beige shelf above the sink, filling it with tap water.  
"He's totally fucked up, dude." BamBam nodded before petting Yugyeom's cheek as in telling him he's done. The latter stepped back immediately, letting the skinny boy slide off the counter.  
Jinyoung's mind wandered back to the morning he woke up in Mark's room, the other sitting beside him with a bright smile, freshly showered and worried about his parents finding out about the man in his bed. But who was he to judge? The Mark he had met at the club was indeed a wild one. There was no way anyone could deny that.  
"Hey Jinyoung. You should come with us." Yugyeom then said. Jinyoung swallowed loudly in surprise before putting his cup down onto the counter.  
"Yeah, meeting the good dudes around here." BamBam agreed, followed him and grabbed a pair of flat, white converse.  
“The good dudes?” Jinyoung spluttered, amused. “At whose discretion?”  
“Ours, of course.” Yugyeom said as if it was the most common knowledge out there before nearly twirling out of the room with BamBam following close behind.  
Jinyoung couldn’t help but laugh at that as he left the kitchen as well.  
The two boys were already on the floor, Yugyeom putting on a pair of dirty white sneakers while BamBam reached for his brown high top converse.   
Jinyoung nodded. “Okay. Just let me grab a pair of socks. Where are we going?”  
“The playground down the street.” Yugyeom called after him, hopping back on his feet after just stuffing the laces into the sides of his shoes. “No need to dress up.”  
Jinyoung nodded, chuckling as he slid into his room to just fetch his denim jacket and a pair of socks. Once he slipped into them he also grabbed his shoes from the floor. Yugyeom and BamBam were already out on the staircase, waiting for him.  
“Today is JB’s turn, right?” BamBam asked his best friend while rocking back and forth on his toes, clutching the wooden handrail. Yugyeom just nodded.  
“Turn for what?” Jinyoung wondered as he got up, stepping outside as well before closing the door behind him.  
“We take turns in who’s bringing the booze.” BamBam explained shortly. “Good to know you’re part of the circle now.” he winked at him over his shoulder.  
“Is that so?” Jinyoung laughed as he followed the two giggling boys down the creaky stairs.   
“Anyways…” Yugyeom then said. “JB might come a bit later. You know how his boss is…”  
“Ugh… I said it once and will do so again: I’d kill myself if I had to spend my Saturdays in that shop.” BamBam groaned as he hopped down the last step, swinging around the handrail post to let Yugyeom lead the way out of the building’s heavy front door. His eyes widened once they stepped into the fading afternoon sun, the door falling shut behind them loudly. “Wait does that mean we won’t have any alcohol before 9?”  
Yugyeom laughed at that. “Dude, that’s in twenty minutes.”  
“Dude, I know!!” the other whined as they made their way further down the street. “So, Jinyoung now tell me… how was it with Mark? I’ve always wondered….”  
“I guess I do need alcohol for that.” Jinyoung cut him off immediately, laughing at the bold question as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.  
“See? JB’s too late already.” BamBam chuckled while starting to balance along the curbstone with his arms spread, repeatedly supporting himself with a slender hand tapping on Yugyeom’s shoulder. 

The playground was indeed just down the street, located in a little enhanced park surrounded by tiny trees, bushes and a knee high fence. There weren't any children around anymore, most of them probably being in bed by now.   
Jinyoung had not yet stepped into the sand when BamBam rushed past him, towards a rusty carousel on the left side of the playground. The carousel squealed once he gave it one strong push and hopped onto it. It didn’t spin fast, almost coming to a halt again if it hadn’t been for Yugyeom running up to it as well. BamBam screamed when the taller boy started spinning him faster, both hands tightly clutched around one of the rods painted in flaking basic colors.   
Yugyeom’s cackles joined BamBam’s screams echoing from the houses around them when he tripped, sending them both spiralling out of balance. Jinyoung laughed, watching them tumble into the sand, almost on top of each other, as he walked up to them with a swing in his steps.   
He stopped the carousel before hopping onto it, leaning against the yellow rod and looked down at the giggling boys. “See? Dizzy without alcohol.”  
They kept laughing for a few more seconds, Yugyeom’s leg thrown over Bambam’s, before they got up again, petting the sand off of each other. Yugyeom finished off with a hard slap on BamBam’s butt.  
“Hey! Hands off the peach!” the latter called, both hands flying back to cup it, back arching.  
Both, Yugyeom and Jinyoung scoffed.  
“Peach my ass. There’s nothing peachy about that bony thing, dude.” Yugyeom laughed, sticking his tongue out.  
“Is that so?” BamBam fake-gasped. “As soon as your new roommate prances his bubble butt around the place you’re belittling your best friend?”  
Jinyoung barked out another laughter, stomach fluttering shortly at the compliment before he could notice that Yugyeom had gotten quieter, only pulling another grimace at the other.

_"But you're NOT just my friend!" Jinyoung half-screamed at the boy standing in front of him, now nervously fiddling with the hem of his sweater. They were standing in the middle of his room and Jinyoung knew his parents would come up from the restaurant soon. "What we're doing is nothing like a normal friendship and you know it!"  
"I know, Jinyoung. But…"  
"But? Where's the but? I don't see why we should hide ourselves like that."  
"Jinyoung would you stop being selfish for a second and actually listen to me?" the boy stopped the fumbling, finally looking up to face him directly.   
Jinyoung let out a frustrated groan. "No I won't! I think your point is clear so there's no use-"  
"Nothing is clear for you, apparently!" he took a step closer then. "I love you, Jiny-"  
"Clearly you don't. Not enough." Jinyoung hissed, taking a step back to keep the distance between them. "I'm ready to lay my heart open so why aren't you if you love me so much, huh? Instead you’re running around, insulting me and what we have. It's you denying me. Not the other way around."   
"You're so… so full of yourself sometimes. You’re an asshole, Park Jinyoung." the other sighed.   
Jinyoung's vision turned red then, face heating up at how angry he was at the boy. "Great. Yeah just go on and pretend I'm the bad one, the one who stepped onto YOUR feelings. It's fine. Do whatever you want. I think we're done here."  
The other's eyes widened, slightly shiny with tears by now but they weren't falling.   
"Okay." he said, voice wavering but with a nasty bite in it. "It's better not to be gay anyways."  
And Jinyoung was about to jump if it hadn't been for his mother knocking on the door. The moment she opened it, the boy slipped through the small space between the door frame and the surprised woman.  
Jinyoung was still standing there, panting slightly, fists clenched as he stared past his mother to where the other had just ran off.  
"Jinyoung?" his mother asked, not a hint of sincerity in her voice. She sounded disappointed, angry… disgusted. "That was him. That was him, wasn't it? Tell me, who is he?"  
"No one." Jinyoung hissed, his stomach still flaring with anger. "He's no one."_

Jinyoung was torn out of the unpretty, aching memory by a tiny white dog dashing towards them, barking excitedly, and a man walking behind it.  
“Coco!! Stop it!” he called in Korean. Jinyoung flinched at his loud voice before inevitably breaking into a smile at the bright tone in it. “One day BamBam will kidnap you for real! Be careful with that uncle!”  
Jinyoung and Yugyeom bursted into laughter. The newcomer smirked, the expression somehow suiting his whole appearance. His black hair was reaching down to his cheekbones in the front, pointy tips slightly curling around it, pointing towards his dark lips. In the back, it was cut a bit shorter. Dark circles were framing his eyes, making Jinyoung wonder how many kajal pencils the boy exhausted in a week with that look. Tightly wrapped around his neck was a black, studded collar. His clothes were also black, an overcoat decorated with chains and studs playing around his knees, covered in equally decorated pants. His feet looked enormous in the black jump boots he was wearing.  
The tiny dog had stopped barking and jumped onto BamBam’s lap. The boy was sitting on the edge of the carousel now while Yugyeom was leaning against it, balancing it just enough that it didn’t start spinning again. He was still chuckling.  
“Did he call me uncle again?” BamBam asked him.  
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” the newcomer replied as he stepped up to them, shoving his coat back to put his hands into his pockets.  
BamBam looked sceptical still, looking at Yugyeom. The latter shook his head, pressing his lips together now.  
"He totally did call you uncle." Jinyoung deadpanned then before grinning at the boy in black. "Hi. I'm Jinyoung."  
"Wow, you're an asshole, Jinyoung." the latter smiled. _"You're an asshole, Park Jinyoung."_ "I like that. I'm YoungJae, this is Coco." he nodded towards the wriggly animal in BamBam’s lap. Jinyoung spluttered, laughing at YoungJae’s weirdly warm words.  
“Great, I’m having a traitor as a roommate again.” Yugyeom groaned, watching their short exchange with an amused expression.  
“Oh?” YoungJae’s eyes widened, quickly darting into the direction of their house before landing back on Jinyoung who didn’t have the time to ask about the ‘again’ part of Yugyeom’s sentence. “Roommate?”  
Jinyoung nodded. “I’ll be going to uni here from October on.”  
“Mark Tuan sent him right to my place.” Yugyeom added with a soft giggle. YoungJae whistled.   
Jinyoung rolled his eyes, already feeling his face heating up. Slowly but surely he was under the impression that his night with Mark was disclosing more about himself than he would have appreciated… or what was the truth. “Oh, come on. He seemed… nice… I didn’t know...”  
“Yeah… he's incredibly nice. And totally fucked up.” BamBam repeated his words from earlier. “He’s even worse than me!” Yugyeom flinched visibly - for Jinyoung at least - and he wondered if other people had noticed that before. “Like… I mean I’ve never blown anyone in the entrance of a casual club. That's sure something.”  
Jinyoung tried his best to will down the heat spreading across his cheeks at the memory of the platinum blonde boy kneeling in front of him, hot mouth wrapped around his dick.  
YoungJae scoffed. “Yeah… not in a casual-”  
He got interrupted by Coco running riot once more. BamBam quickly pulled his hands back as the dog started barking again, jumping off his lap before running towards the entrance of the playground.  
Jinyoung’s breath hitched, the arousal of his memory still pumping through his veins given another spark as he locked eyes with the man coming towards them, carrying a big, green beer case in front of his chest.   
It was the man from the windowsill.   
And maybe it was the glorified picture in Jinyoung’s head, him sitting in the afternoon light, dozing peacefully, that made him feel the intensity of that stare, the contrast, right now. As if he knew Jinyoung had been looking at him yesterday.  
“YO, whassup whassup Jay Bee in da HOOD!” Yugyeom hollored, making the man break their eye contact to look at the tall boy. A bright, surprisingly boyish smile appeared on his lips, the fierce stare Jinyoung suddenly wasn't sure if he imagined it or not was gone. BamBam got up, immediately hopping towards the man. With a cheeky grin, he snatched a bottle out of the crate.  
“Finally. Took you long enough, dude.” he said before plopping back onto the ground right next to the carousel this time, opening the bottle on its edge with a swift movement. “Oh my fucking god it’s CHILLED. I love you, dude.”   
Coco finally stopped barking and hopped back onto BamBam’s lap, curiously sniffing at the bottom of the bottle. “I was being too sober for YoungJae’s insults. I’m not an uncle. Or do I look like 46? Huh? JB, dude?”  
The newcomer breathed out a laughter as he put the crate next to the boy, onto the carousel. It swayed a bit beneath Jinyoung’s feet. A single strand of hair was slipping from behind JB’s ear as he bent down. Jinyoung watched it before his eyes wandered down to where his dark grey, worn out and oversized sweater was hanging off his shoulders now, allowing a deep insight at his bare chest and down his stomach to where the seater was loosely tucked into his blue jeans, the same pair here wore the day before. Jinyoung shouldn’t start staring again. Instead, he breathed out slowly, watching Coco lick the condensed water off of BamBam’s bottle for a moment before giving in to the urge to look back. JB then jerked his head to the side, making the loose strand fly back a little, revealing a brown band aid sticking to his right cheekbone. Jinyoung was sure it hadn’t been there the day before.  
“Jaebeom. Hi. Und du bist? Hab dich noch nich’ hier geseh’n.”  
Jinyoung quickly reached for the hand he hadn’t realized the man was holding up for a moment already. It was cold and wet. He must’ve grabbed the beer with it before switching hands. And it washed over Jinyoung, just as cold, that all the words that fell from his shapely lips were mumbled in sloppy German. He said his name but did he ask for his? Jinyoung stared at him for another second.  
“He’s Korean.” Yugyeom then chirped from where he had plopped down into the sand next to BamBam. He had his head leaning back to look up at Jaebeom, the beer bottle resting on his knee. “My new roommate.” he added in English.  
Jaebeom’s eyes widened for a second as he looked at their still joined hands before he quickly pulled his away, stroking the lonely strand behind his ear again. “Oh. Hi.” he quickly mumbled, a sheepish smile on his lips.  
“Hi. I’m Jinyoung.” Jinyoung said, making Jaebeom’s head snap up to meet his eyes again.   
“Hi.” he repeated for the third time before his lips formed into an o-shape and he bent down, grabbing a beer bottle for Jinyoung.   
The strand of hair had gone astray once more as Jaebeom handed the bottle to him.   
“Thanks.” Jinyoung whispered as his fingers came in touch with the cold, slippery surface.  
“Hey JB, what happened to your face?” YoungJae asked, reaching out to shove the streak aside and poke the band aid. A faint flash of surprise washed over Jaebeom’s face, his own hand flying up to touch it as well. He then broke into a fond smile.  
“Nora. She thought I was gone for too long today.”  
“Nora’s his girlfriend, you know?” BamBam chuckled, head thrown back like Yugyeom. The latter and Youngjae joined his giggles.  
“Oh shut up.” Jaebeom rolled his eyes, the smile dropping immediately. “Where’s Jackson by the way?”  
“Ah… he’s stuck at the barracks. Not allowed to go out this weekend because they’ve got some training for the parade tomorrow morning.” Yugyeom said.  
“Rehearsal on a Sunday? Fuck…” BamBam said, downing another big gulp of his beer. “I know why I refused to serve my country.”  
“You didn’t serve your country because your country didn’t select you to do so.” YoungJae deadpanned.  
Jinyoung sighed, knowing that he, too, was expected to enlist the moment he finished his studies and came back to Korea. But that was something he tried not to think about, quickly washing away the thought with a huge gulp of beer. Everyone else must have had similar thoughts, doing exactly the same during a short moment of pregnant silence.  
“Really dudes… I’m sorry.”  
“No it’s okay, Bam…” Yugyeom said, earning a short nod and a hum from Jaebeom before he took his beer into his right hand again. He then reached into the pocket of his jeans, taking out a pack of cigarettes. With a skilled flick, he opened it with one hand, bringing it up to his mouth to take one with his lips.  
Before Jinyoung could stop himself from staring, Jaebeom caught his glance again. “Want one?” he asked, the grit loosely stuck between his lips on the left side.  
“Please.” Jinyoung nodded, skidding a tad bit closer on the swaying carousel, picking a cigarette with his index and middle finger. He thanked Jaebeom with a nod while shoving the cigarette between his own lips.  
Jaebeom smiled at him again, pushing the packet into his pocket before fumbling for a lighter in the same one. Once he got it, he brought it up, flipping off the cap before trying to light it once… twice… He held his right hand up to shield it from the wind, the beer bottle still clamped between his fingers.  
By now, the sun had sunk behind the houses, causing the last rays of sunshine dancing through the small trees and onto the sand to slowly disappear. Jinyoung looked up at the sky for a second, spotting a few pink clouds above the house on their left before he let his gaze sweep over the boys around him. Saying that their happy chatting made up for the warmth gone with the sunrays would be too much, too cheesy, but Jinyoung smiled softly, satisfied with where he was right now. After days of traveling and uncertainty, he felt like getting some rest for the first time in a while.  
YoungJae had crouched down on the edge of the carousel as well, sitting behind Yugyeom and BamBam, immersed into a conversation Jinyoung had missed to get into. Coco was slowly waddling around then, sniffing the sand.  
Jaebeom’s face finally got illuminated by the tiny flame of his lighter, soon resulting in the tip of his cigarette glowing in a bright red as he took the first drag. Once he handed the lighter to Jinyoung, cigarette and beer in the other hand, he blew out a cloud of smoke.  
Jinyoung fumbled with the lighter as well, turning away from where the wind blew through the street canyon.  
“I’ve got two options I guess… either buy a new lighter or stop smoking.” Jaebeom laughed, watching Jinyoung struggle for a second. Jinyoung chuckled in response, his stomach tingling. He’s never been a heavy smoker due to obvious reasons. But a cigarette once in a while was great and he was always glad to mooch one or two from people around him.  
He finally managed to light it, sighing once he felt the warm smoke whirl through his insides.  
That’s when YoungJae groaned from his spot behind the giggling boys on the ground. “Guys please… not next to Coco.”  
Jinyoung snorted as he handed Jaebeom his lighter back. “Really?”  
Jaebeom laughed, putting it into his pocket. “Sorry, I forgot.”  
As if responding to it, Coco sneezed, making YoungJae underline his statement with a lifted eyebrow and for the first time, Jinyoung could feel a slightly scary aura coming from the man dressed in all black.  
Still grinning, Jaebeom locked eyes with Jinyoung again, nodding into a direction further down the playground. Jinyoung hopped down the carousel before following Jaebeom to the swings in silence.   
They put their bottles down into the sand before occupying a swing each.   
“Coco’s his little princess.” Jaebeom started, switching back to Korean. “Always a weak point. But I get that. I’m the same with Nora. She’s my cat by the way.”  
Jinyoung giggled, taking another drag as he pictured the sleepy cat with the waving tail. “I figured.”   
Jaebeom looked at him then, almost questioning, and that’s when Jinyoung realized he might have said too much. He quickly looked back onto the ground, letting his hair fall into his face as much as possible. “That she’s not your girlfriend, I mean. Otherwise I hope you would've filed for domestic abuse already.”  
Jaebeom snorted shortly, looking at the cigarette between his fingers, resting on his thigh. “So… you’re Yugyeom’s new roommate? How come?”  
Jinyoung sighed, trying not to show a sign of his disappointment following Jaebeom not denying or at least addressing the girlfriend topic as he gave him a short rundown of the answer that must’ve sounded rehearsed by now. How he came here to study and ended up spending the night at the club.  
“And before you hear it from anyone else… it was Mark who told me about Yugyeom's free room after I spent the night at his place. Assuming you do know him as well as the others do, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t comment on that. I think I’ve heard enough.”  
Jaebeom blew out another big puff of smoke, staying silent for a moment as if to process the piece of information. “I… don’t really have anything against Mark. Just so you know.”  
“Okay…”  
“It’s just… difficult.” He tapped the ash of his cigarette into the sand. Jinyoung nodded.  
But before Jaebeom could expand the topic, a voice interrupted them.  
“Jaebeom? You have a minute?” YoungJae approached them, his dark figure emerging from the shadows like in a horror movie. Coco was trailing behind him, her collar jingling softly. “Coco! Go back to uncle BamBam!” YoungJae hissed, pointing towards the two best friends giggling next to the carousel. But Coco remained stubborn. Jinyoung took one last drag of his cigarette before dropping it into the sand. Coco hopped forward to sniff on it, only to jump away in distaste immediately.  
“You sent us away just to follow us?” Jaebeom smiled softly. “What is it?”  
“Uhm…" YoungJae dragged his heavy boot through the sand, clearly stalling. He took another breath before looking up at Jaebeom with a stern expression. "Sandra called. Earlier today. She was asking about you. I thought you might… wanna know.”  
Jaebeom’s smile faded and his expression hardened at an instant as he took another drag. “I don’t. But thanks.”  
YoungJae nodded, clicking his tongue. “I figured. I didn’t tell her a thing. Said it’s not her business anymore. Just so you know.”  
There was another moment of pregnant silence and Jinyoung couldn’t help but feel that he shouldn’t have heard anything of this conversation, despite not really knowing what it’s about. He could only guess.  
Jaebeom watched the tiny white dog digging in the sand, blowing out another cloud of smoke ever so slowly. “... How is she?” he then asked, starting to slowly swing back and forth with his feet buried into the sand.  
YoungJae hesitated before giving his answer. “Good. I think.”  
Jaebeom let out a low scoff. More ashes fell to the ground. “I was kind of hoping you’d say something else.”  
YoungJae smiled softly. “I know. Sorry.”  
“It’s fine… not your fault.” Jaebeom dropped the end of his cigarette into the sand as well before hopping up onto his feet, grabbing his beer in the same movement. “I think I’ll head home now… before _my girlfriend_ gets mad at me again.”  
“Jaebeom, man… I’m sorry…” YoungJae said, giving Jinyoung a short, frantic glance before trying to follow the other man.  
“I said it’s okay, YoungJae. I’m just tired… is all. See you. Goodnight, Jinyoung.”  
“Night.” Jinyoung just said, not really knowing how to handle the situation as he watched Jaebeom leave the playground with nothing more but a wave at BamBam and Yugyeom. YoungJae just stood there, running a hand through his hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooookay guys... I know it's been MONTHS since I last uploaded and I'm very sorry for that. But you all know life's different from what we're used to right now and thus my job is a mess, school is a mess, my mental state is a mess too... I also kind of ruined my hand at work AND caught our new favorite virus. I'm doing better now but it's still far from perfect.  
> I didn't get to write at all during the past few months which is why I had to drop out of an amazing writing project as well as my own story. This chapter was the last thing I wrote before all of this mess started so I can't tell you when the next chapter will be up. But I'm trying my best as this story really means a lot to me.
> 
> Thank you guys so much for reading, please share your thoughts and PLEASE stay happy and healthy! <3
> 
> AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST! SUPPORT OUR BOYS COMEBACK! <3


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